The RWBY Gene
by almost stupid
Summary: In the world of Remnant, much of its history has been lost to the ages. Why? What happened in the past, that was left unrecorded? And more importantly, who or what is suddenly changing what history they DO have recorded, into tales of the bizarre?
1. Opening the Gate

**I'm really excited to be writing this story. This will be a crossover between RWBY and Breath of Fire 3, my favorite game in the series. When writing this, I realized that giving myself a word quota was hurting me more than helping. So, each chapter will be as long as I need them to be and no longer.**

 **Now, before the story begins, I want to thank a couple of people.**

 **'guardian xela' beta-read this chapter and came up with the description.**

 **'Phoenix Champion' helped with the introduction into the new world. Although this idea isn't completely his, I wouldn't have been able to come up with the idea that I DO have.**

 **Both of these guys have been a massive help, I highly sugggest giving their works a read. 'gx' has an amazing Darksiders story and 'PC' has a wondertful Legend of Dragoon story that I enjoy greatly.  
**

 **Everything else will be saved for the bottom, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Opening the Gate.**

In a world, the name long forgotten in history, lived a terribly powerful race known as 'Brood'. The Brood took the forms of dragons with varying degrees of design and size. However, the Brood were not alone in the world. The Endless as they were known, lived in this world as well. Also varying in size and design, the Endless were blessed with divine life and power that rivaled the Brood. Among the Endless was the Goddess of Desire, Myria.

Myria loved the world with every fiber of her being. This love was the fuel of her drastic actions when 'The Great War of Dragons' began. Fearing for the world because of the sheer destructive power of the Brood, Myria bestowed a select few of chosen followers, her Guardians, with unquestioned skill and wisdom. Through this, the goddess, along with the help of her Guardians and the mortal races that dwelled at the time, erased the Brood from existence. The war against the dragons took a massive toll on the mortals. Some tribes were pushed to extinction, while others were incarcerated completely, leaving nothing behind. Not even ashes.

With the threat no longer looming, the world started to rebuild anew. The goddess Myria now assessed to the godly world beyond, happy that the world was safe. Years of hardship were made possible with the teachings that Myria had provided just before she left.

The goddess still watches over the world to this day. Almost like a mother, she repels any unknown dangers from the mortals, who she now sees as her children.

With her protection, her children are safe.

With her teachings, her children are wise.

With her attention, her children are loved.

With praise, the mortals sing her name. For without her love, they would not exist.

* * *

Blake closed the book and turned her attention to her team, "I'm not the only one that finds this a little weird, right?" Blake said as she set the book onto the table next to the window. The reactions from the rest of team RWBY were mixed; Yang was scratching her head with a confused face, Weiss was neutral, and Ruby had wide eyes.

"Where did you say that you found that book?" Weiss asked. Blake could hear a slight undertone of disbelief in the Schnee heiress' voice.

"I'm not joking," Blake said, "I found it archived under nonfiction in Beacon's library."

"Well it must be a joke because that sounds like a bedtime story for a five year old!" Weiss said with her voice steadily increasing in volume.

"That's not all, it was also classified under _historical reference_." Blake said as she took another glance at the book in question. This statement resulted in an 'are you kidding me?!' look from RWY. The silence that followed was nearly deafening. Thankfully Ruby's scroll chimed with a message, breaking everyone from their stupor. Ruby checked the message and saw that it was from headmaster Ozpin. When she finished reading it, the leader of team RWBY adopted a serious look.

"Guys, Ozpin needs us in his office now, he says that we have an important mission and that we should bring our weapons." Ruby said, making way to get her sniper scythe, Crescent Rose. The other girls did the same and exited their dorm room. Ruby, being a thoughtful leader, grabbed some extra ammo and dust for everyone's weapons before heading out of the room herself. As she was about to reach the door, Ruby heard something.

" _ **All lies…**_ " a voice said from behind the little' red reaper. Ruby turned toward the book that Blake had found in the library. It was odd, the voice that she heard was deep, distorted, and almost like it was in a different language. Yet she understood it clearly. Ruby shrugged her shoulders, chalking the voice up as her mind playing tricks on her, Ruby left the room to join the rest of her team.

* * *

The status quo of Beacon Academy was one of many things that never remained the same for long. Of course, this was naturally expected by everyone involved with the institution. A school that housed and taught hormonal teenagers to harness their powers to combat the endless monsters known as 'the grimm' was never going to be considered _normal_. Which again, meant everyone involved understood and was alright with it. These kinds of details were even mentioned in the job description.

That said, the past week was proving to be more than Ozpin and Glynda, the headmaster and headmistress of Beacon, could handle. Starting it off, multiple students from all years had reported hearing distorted growls coming from various locations. These reports were left unchecked due to the fast approaching finals. All of the professors deduced this as anxiety and continued on with routine. From here, things progressively became more and more unexplainable.

Pages from history books started to go missing, as if they had never been written…

This evolved to entire sections of history books being rewritten…

This _again_ evolved to completely new books taking the places of the old ones. While this was already enough cause for alarm, the anomaly reached a new level of the inexplainable. The school records suddenly changed to match these new books, without anyone accessing the system to do so.

Finally, as if to put the last nail into the 'something is wrong' coffin, reports from institutions in Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral all had anomalies that matched Beacon's to the letter. It was due to very recent events, that Glynda Goodwitch was not surprised that the content in Ozpin's coffee cup was not coffee. The headmaster was at the point of hoping that it couldn't get anymore strange, until it does.

"Sir, the same thing that has been happening to the schools is now affecting libraries and bookstores as well." Ms. Goodwitch said. She could easily tell that the headmaster was expecting news like that, if his lack of reaction was anything to go by. Ozpin then, still without a word spoken, pulled out his scroll from his jacket pocket and quickly sent out two messages. Instead of returning it to his jacket, Ozpin immediately uploaded the energy data from the area around Beacon. Once uploaded, the headmaster handed his scroll over to Glynda and gestured for her to look. The readings were of dust levels, untapped beneath the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall. As time increased the demand for the valuable resource, these areas were long tapped out.

Well, they still are, except for one tiny area in Emerald Forest. The area in question happened to be the ruins that were used for this year's initiation. Ms. Goodwitch's eyes nearly popped out of here head with how wide they became. That amount of dust would easily fund any major events at Beacon for the next year.

"Sir, are these readings correct?" Ms. Goodwitch asked. Ozpin only replied with a small nod, unaffected by Glynda's poorly hidden excitement. "We need to gather a team immediately to secure the loca-"

"Glynda," Ozpin's low voice cut off the headmistress, "I have a bad feeling about this supposed dust."

"What do you mean?"

"Firstly, that is the highest concentration of energy ever seen in such a small location. Secondly, what little dust that was under the Emerald Forest has long been drained. Lastly, and this might be the most peculiar, this so called _dust_ appeared on the same day that our students started reporting about the distorted growls."

As Ozpin listed off his reasons, Ms. Goodwitch began to realize why he was in a somber mood. Some sort of divine deity was planning something for Remnant. Which, on a normal day, would sound crazy. However, as the past week proved, normal was never a part of this. There were many things that the headmaster of Beacon didn't like. Being powerless to stop any potential dangers, was one of those things.

"Because of all this, I'm going to be sending team RWBY and Oobleck to investigate the area. I don't know why, but my instincts tell me that those four girls are perfect for this job." On cue, a knock was heard from the door and in walked RWBY.

"You called for us, Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked as her team lined up opposite of Ozpin and Glynda.

"Yes I did, Ms. Rose. You and your team will accompany Doctor Oobleck to the ruins in Emerald Forest. There you will be investigating the recent spike of energy that's inside."

"Wait, are you talking about the same ruins that were used for initiation?" Weiss asked.

"The very same. Now hurry along to the bullhead that I have prepared. The faster you four get this done, the higher your grade will be."

Team RWBY didn't need to hear anymore after that as they rushed out of the office. Glynda and Ozpin continued to look at the door for a couple of minutes in silence before Ms. Goodwitch spoke.

"I'm going to head back to my office to finish my plans for classes tomorrow. While I should question why you didn't tell them everything, I'm sure you have your reasons. Have a good evening, Ozpin." With that, the headmaster was left alone in his office.

"To be honest, I don't really know why myself." Ozpin said aloud to himself. Turning towards the window, Ozpin was briefly startled by a distorted voice from behind him.

" _ **Our saviors, come to aid…**_ "

The headmaster scanned the room to verify that he was still by himself. After a solid minute, Ozpin let out a quiet chuckle. "Isn't this interesting, and here I thought that your kind only existed in fairytales."

* * *

Travelling from any point 'a' to point 'b' with Doctor Oobleck is considered amongst students to be the toughest endurance training for patience. No matter how far the destination or how you were passing the time, the green haired doctor always had something to talk about. Even as the team was nearing the ruins, the good doctor was almost talking faster than his lips could move. As for the topic? Nobody really knows, it's all just been a blur.

The bullhead gently touched ground after what felt like hours for RWBY. Thankful for their arrival, the four girls, plus Oobleck, got off the transportation and stood in front of the dilapidated structure. As the sun began to set behind the building, the orange-ish light gave the ruins an ancient, eerie atmosphere. This atmosphere would have sent small chills up the girls' spines had Oobleck's scroll not gone off like a fire alarm.

"Well girls, my scroll tells me that what we're looking for is just inside. Let us not waste any time, come along." Oobleck said as he rushed in. His words barely registered as the team all had headaches since stepping off the bullhead.

"One of these days I'm going to sew his mouth shut and hide his coffee." Weiss groaned out.

"Let me know when you decide to do it, I think I know of a few good hiding places." Blake said, massaging her forehead in an attempt to reduce the pain.

The color themed team took a few seconds to strengthen their resolve before shuffling inside. The image that they were treated to caused the headaches to be an afterthought. Doctor Oobleck was flat on his back, knocked out by some unknown force. The team was now on high alert, each girl having her own weapon out and ready for a fight.

However, there was absolutely nothing that seemed dangerous in the ruins. It was just themselves, Oobleck, and four glowing, purple crystals that rested against the far wall. From a distance, the pointed crystals looked as if they were made of glass, mainly because of how transparent they looked. With caution, the four girls approached the crystals. Although each crystal was the exact same shape and size, coming up to their knees, each girl was drawn to an individual one . Like in a trance, each girl reached out with their right hand and touched a different crystal. As each girl made contact as the exact same time, everything for Team RWBY went dark.

At this time, Oobleck regained consciousness and stood up. Upon realizing that the stones were gone, the doctor assumed that the girls had already taken them outside. When he stepped outside, Oobleck saw that both team RWBY and the crystals, were missing, and uttered two words.

"Oh no…"

* * *

" _ **Ruby…**_ "

" _ **Weiss…**_ "

" _ **Blake…**_ "

" _ **Yang…**_ "

" _ **Forgive me for my actions, thou four are our last chance to stop the extinction of our race. May we speak face to face in the new world. There, I will explain everything and beg forgiveness once again. Stay safe on thy journey.**_ "

* * *

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all heard the gentle breeze and birds chirping as they began to stir. Each one wanted to rest some more, content with how comfortable everything felt. That was, until they heard a primal growl from right beside them...

 **To inform everyone now, this will be following the game closely. However, I'll be sure to throw in some unique events to prevent the story from being completely predictable. Another thing is that I would really love a beta-reader for this story, anybody interested?**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. If you guys have any comments or advice, I'd love to hear it. Have a good one everybody!**


	2. Escape

_**Well boys and girls this chapter has taken way to long to write, TIME TO BURN MY ASS AT THE STAKE!  
**_

 _ **But in all seriousness though, I really don't have an excuse for the long delay. Sorry to anyone who has been legitimately waiting for this update. I just sorta lost interest in writing for awhile. Although I could say that work interfered somewhat, I still had enough free time to get this out much sooner. Again, I'm sorry.**_

 _ _ **With that said, I hope you enjoyed what I've written here. If there is any errors in spelling or grammar, I'm sorry for that as well. Apart from 'Phoenix Champion' taking a look at the chapter before it was finished, I haven't had this properly beta read by anyone. Couple that with the fact that I don't want to wait any longer and that it's currently 4 A.M at the time of writing this note, needless to say that there is most likely mistakes that I missed.  
**__

 _ _ **Another thing to point out is that Ryu WILL BE IN THIS STORY! He will get his official introduction in the next chapter. I intended for him to be introduced this chapter, but I'm going to stick with the game as far as that intro is concerned. Trying to do it now just felt forced to me, no matter how I wrote it. Anyways, I'm curious as to what people think about this, especially the individual segments towards the end. Are they good? Are they bad? You tell me.**__

 _ _ **From this point on my attention will shift between this and my FF9 crossover, just to let you know. Once again, I'm sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy.**__

 _ _ ***I do NOT own Breath of Fire OR RWBY. I'm just some schmuck who is a fan. Nothing more.***__

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Escape.**

Dauna Mine.

Located in the Dauna Region, this mining system is the world's richest source for Chrysm, a rare and magical mineral. These clear-ish, light purple rocks serve as the only way to power any machines. Without it, necessary luxuries like; production plants, lighthouses, and fishing boats would all cease to function. Yes, Chrysm truly is a precious resource, but where does it come from?

Dragons.

To be more precise, the petrified remains of dragons. Countless years have buried and crystallized these once great dragons. It's recorded that these dragons nearly brought the world to ruin. How ironic it is that they now help it prosper.

Deep in Dauna Mine, two workers are currently finishing up with the explosives that are rigged to blast a massive chunk of Chrysm.

"So, what dragon do you think this was before it turned into _this_ huge chunk?" asked Gary, a member of the Grassrunner clan. These humanoid dogs are one of the older tribes, existing since the war with the dragons.

"If you want my honest opinion, I don't really care. The only reason as to why I'm here is to make my living. As long as I can put food on my table, the details aren't important." replied Mogu, a Dirt-Eating member. This mole clan was the only one not known before or during the dragon war. Because they were living underground, they were largely unaffected by the chaos.

"Wait," Gary said, halting his part of wiring the dynamite, "you're saying that you're not curious at all?"

"Mmm Hmm." was the reply he received.

"That's just like you Mogu. I for one would like to know how dragons could go from scales and bones, to crystals." Gary said as he continued his work.

"Well next time you're in Windia, ask a scholar about it, I'm sure they'll know. Speaking of Windia, you almost done over there? I want to finish this up, clock out, and start my vacation." Mogu said. The mole man then made his way to the detonator that was set at the bottom of a ramp, behind a large rock.

"Right behind ya." Gary replied as he rushed to where his partner was. Once both guys were away from the blast zone, Mogu started his countdown.

"3-2-1!" After one, Mogu pushed the plunger down and sent the signal to the dynamite. Almost immediately after, the explosives did its job and blew the ore apart. The force of the blast shook the large room for several seconds as chunks of Chrysm were sent flying in different directions.

"I think that did it. Now all we have to do is report this to the boss and off we go to Windi-." Gary started to say before he was cut off by four screeches. This scared the duo for two reasons. One, the mines were cleared of any monsters on a daily basis. Two, they were the only sources of life in the room. That's what they thought anyway. With fear coursing through their veins, the two looked over the large rock where the screeches came from.

There, in a hole where Chrysm was, were four small dragons looking around the room. Each dragon was a different color.

Red, White, Black, and finally, Yellow.

"D-dragons…" Mogu whispered out.

Gary was still silent at this point. However, he realized some things. By the looks of it, they were infants, they hadn't noticed them two, and that they could make enough money from this to never have to work again. Slowly, the Grassrunner picked up a hammer that rested just behind his feet and aimed at one of the baby dragons.

"Gary. What do you call yourself doing?" Mogu asked in a whisper.

Gary turned to his partner with a glint in his eyes and replied,"They're just babies, I don't think they can really harm us. If we were to capture them, think of how much profit we could make. We would never have to work another day in our lives. Besides, wouldn't you like to spend more time with your family?"

The reasoning behind his friend's proposal was hard to fight at the time. If there was another way to earn a decent salary while being able to see his family more often, Mogu would take it. With a nod, Mogu grabbed his hammer that was attached to his belt and copied his partner. After a silent countdown from five, both men threw their hammers at the dragons. The blunt objects came into contact with the heads of the red and black infant dragons. This action earned a screech of pain from the first two and startled the white and yellow ones.

"We've got them by surprise Mogu, let's get em!" Gary shouted and charged at the four, his friend right beside him. Both men got within arm's length before realizing their fatal error. The white and yellow duo released a burning, lethal breath of energy towards the two miners. The breath attacks arched outward in a fan shape, blanketing the two men easily. The pain that they felt was short, lasting only a couple of seconds before everything went dark.

On the ground were two severely charred bodies that faced upward. Just by observation, nobody would be able to identify the two men, much less their races.

The two dragons that were hit shook off the small bumps and, with the other two following suit, made their way out of the room and into a short corridor. Along the dimly lit hall was varying mining essentials. Pick axes, hammers, chisels, lanterns, and thick pieces of lumber were all bunched together in a neat mess down the hall. The two things that was missing from this scene that you would expect was miners and noise. Aside from the faint sounds of work still going on beyond the hall, it looked as if everyone had decided to leave together. Though this meant nothing to the four dragons as they still had the mindset of getting out of here. Stepping over anything that was in their way, the dragons made it halfway down before another worker entered through the other end.

"Oh no. Boss, come quick, you're not going to believe this!" The worker shouted as he ran in the opposite direction.

Curious about the commotion, the four preceded to follow the man who seemingly ran away from them. Upon exiting the hall, the sight that they were met with was something that would stick with them for a long time. At the center of what could easily pass as the heart of the mine was the skeletal remains of a fully grown dragon. These remains rested in a large crater surrounded by wooded platforms and support beams.

On instinct, the baby dragons slowly walked up to the bigger dragon. There was just enough of a gap between the dead dragon and the babies so that the four couldn't actually touch it. Noticing this, the four started to screech at the dead dragon, as if they were trying to gain its attention. This continued on for a couple of minutes before heavy footsteps caught their attention from the right.

"You know, I'm starting to think that the whole 'dragons are extinct' thing was just made up to throw everyone off for some reason. Imagine my reaction when I see one of your kind walking out of the mine yesterday, bleary eyed and confused as if it was just born. Now you're telling me that there is FOUR MORE?" A deep, loud voice said. Saying that the man behind the voice was _massive_ would be an understatement. Standing at around eight feet, twice as wide as any normal human because of muscle, and having a strong resemblance of an ox, the man was certainly an imposing individual. The ox man continued talking, assuming that the four dragons could understand him.

"Oh well, I guess it's for the best. Just means that everyone will get an even bigger pay bonus. Now let's keep this as clean as possible and you four come with me, alright?" The large man said as he reached for a nearby piece of heavy lumber. With the aggression from the last two still fresh in their minds, the baby dragons prepared for another breath attack to defend themselves. However, before they could release, a voice echoed through their heads.

" _Nooooooo!"_

Confused as to where the voice came from, the dragons ceased their breath attacks and began looking for the source. Taking this as a sign of compliance, the ox man used the piece of lumber to strike the infants on their heads, effectively knocking them out.

"That should do it," The ox man said, "Alright guys, the cargo tram should be here in a few minutes. Get these four into separate cages and put them with the green one. Also, put those oddly designed weapons in with them. They'll likely get us even more out of this." The man was met with a chorus of "Yes sir" as the miners set about the new orders.

'It's strange how those four dragons match the colors of those weapons,' The ox man thought. 'Bah, I'm sure I'm just over thinking it all.'

* * *

Ruby Rose. The little red reaper of Beacon Academy awoke with a small headache in total darkness on her back. Standing up from that position, the young girl scanned her surroundings only to be met with nothing. Although it was dark, Ruby felt that she could see just fine, it was just that nothing existed for her to see.

"Hello," Ruby called out, her voice echoing in the nothingness, "is anybody there? Weiss, Blake, Yang, can you hear me?" No voice was returned in the silence. The young reaper wanted to consider this as a bad dream, that she would wake up with her friends near her. However, this didn't feel like a dream. Panic began to set in for Ruby as she ran forward. Her thought was that if she moved in any direction that she would see something, ANYTHING. The nothingness that surrounded her gave the feeling of oppression, like something in the universe wanted the poor girl erased from existence. After what felt like hours when really it was only seconds, she saw something.

In the short distance was a small gray sphere. When Ruby saw the sphere, her instincts told her that it was friendly, that it had answers and would keep her safe. However, the girl slowed to a steady walk. Afraid that she would scare it off and that she would be alone again, the reaper approached with caution. When she got close enough, Ruby noticed that the sphere was about as big as her head and hovered at the same height.

" _ **Don't be afraid young one, I will not leave you in this place."**_ A deep voice rumbled in her mind, startling the girl and causing her to jump back slightly.

"Who said that, where are you?" Ruby asked frantically. The voice continued talking as it ignored her questions.

" _ **Touch the sphere in front of you and wake up to see familiar faces. When you do, remember this, everything will be explained in due time. The world will be foreign, dangerous, and scary. But do not fret. You will still have your friends by your side in this quest for answers. Seek out your guardian and stay by his side. Only he will be able to lead you to me. Now go Ruby Rose, wake up from this forsaken place."**_

The reaper of Beacon seemed to calm down as the voice spoke. It sounded like it had immense power behind it, yet it was gentle at the same time. Putting her faith in what the voice said, Ruby took the gray sphere into both hands and was engulfed in a bright light. The next thing she felt and heard was the warmth from the sun and the sound of birds chirping.

* * *

There was few situations, at least by Weiss Schnee's opinion, that could _really_ catch her off guard.

An unknown opponent? Please, that could be handled with grace and ease.

A surprise quiz from Oobleck or Port? Passed without breaking a sweat. Hell, she would be willing to wager that she already knows all the answers for the next quiz as well.

Yang's puns? They're hardly worth any reaction to begin with.

However, currently running for what felt like days in an empty void? Now this is something that she never expected to experience in her lifetime. Having woke up in this unknown location, Weiss called out for her team and even played along with what she thought was a prank. But as the time and the eerie silence continued to stretch on, Weiss concluded that this was anything but a harmless prank. With this realization in mind, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company began to walk forward as she continued to call out for her friends. The walking soon increased speed before turning into jogging, which then turned into a full sprint shortly after that.

Dread and fear continuously poured into every fiber of Weiss' being with each second that passed. Fear of what could be lurking in the darkness around her, fear of being powerless, and fear of being alone all crowded Weiss Schnee's thoughts.

"RUBY, BLAKE, YANG! SOMEONE, ANYONE PLEASE ANSWER ME!" Weiss cried. Tears streamed down her face more and more with each word that passed from her lips. Like every other time before, Weiss was only met with the sounds of her shallow breaths and quick steps. With no answer again, Weiss finally collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. As the tears continued to fall, Weiss Schnee mentally pleaded for a miracle. The heiress' pleas were answered in the form of a voice that bellowed through her mind.

" _ **The time for fear is over my young one."**_ Weiss immediately shot her eyes up to look for where that voice came from. The only thing she saw was a gray sphere that rested at her knees.

Not one to question the new voice in this situation, Weiss said the first thing that came to mind. "Please, you have to help me get out of here."

The voice continued on as if it couldn't hear her, yet it still answered request in a way.

" _ **You are about to embark on an adventure in a new world. Sadly, you will have no choice but to see it through to the end. You will experience relentless hardships, face unknown evils, and be forced to make difficult decisions. However, do not fear, for your friends will be by your side to help. Now take hold of the sphere in front of you and go. Remember this young one, search for the guardian. He will be able to lead you to me. Only when we meet in person will I be able to explain everything in detail. Now go, leave this barren place."**_

As the voice finished speaking, Weiss felt a gentle warmth radiate from the gray sphere. With the only other option being to stay where she was, Weiss grabbed the sphere with both hands and was immediately blinded by a bright light.

* * *

Blake Belladonna never really knew how it felt to have an easy life. Because of the fact that she was born a faunus, hatred and disgust were the main emotions that she felt directed towards herself. This lead to her joining a group called The White Fang at a young age. At first this looked to be the best choice that she could have made since everyone else in the group wanted the same thing that she did, equality for the Faunus race. Wanting nothing more than to get their points of equality across peacefully, Blake truly believed that she had finally found a good home.

However, as these peaceful protests yielded little results over time, the extreme members began to get violent. With the protests morphing into acts of terrorism as the extreme members became more aggressive, Blake ran away from The White Fang. She eventually started to consider herself a coward with all the running that she did. Whenever a major problem arose, instead of tackling it head on, Blake ran away from it until it either forgot about her or resolved itself.

But _this_? Nobody could really blame her for running away from this, right? Actually running isn't the correct word for it, more like speedy walking. On the outside, at a glance, Blake looked to be mostly calm and collected. Upon closer inspection would show her dilated eyes and the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Finally, looking into her mind would show how badly she wanted to leave this depressing place. However, there was one thing that kept her as calm as she was.

The thought of her friends.

Before Beacon, there was only one man who she could really consider a friend in the White Fang. This was the case until his actions in the group turned sour and violent. Now at Beacon, Blake discovered that there was people who actively cared about her well-being, people who wanted to see her succeed, people who she would happily stand by with in battle. Yes, Blake had friends, and it would be a cold day in hell if she even thought of leaving them to save herself.

"Ruby, Weiss, Yang. If you can hear me, say something, we need to get back to Beacon and report to Ozpin as soon as possible." Blake said in the most level voice that she could manage. She didn't trust herself to shout as she was confident that her fear would be heard if she did. Her voice got no response, just the faint echo of what she had said and the noise from her steps was all that she heard. The instincts of the cat faunus flared at this point. They were begging her to run, to get away from here. Her teammates were strong and smart, they could figure out how to get out of this place and back to Beacon on their own, right? Better yet, they could already be back at Beacon now waiting for her.

With those thoughts now in mind, Blake ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Was it cowardice to get away, or was it self-determination that fueled her speed?

Maybe neither.

Maybe both.

All that Blake Belladonna knew for certain was that she wanted to run, and so she did. After running for what felt like a mile, Blake soon discovered that all that running was just a brief burst of energy as she struggled to take some much needed deep breaths. Blake soon came to a complete stop, only to fall right on her back after straightening herself up.

For the longest time Blake just rested there as she looked towards what she assumed was the direction of the sky. In this accursed place, nothing made any logical sense. For all that the faunus knew, up could actually be down. At this point though, she didn't care at all. The only thing that Blake wanted to do way find her friends, get out of here, and return to Beacon. After listening to her erratic breathing, Blake heard a new sound, something that she hadn't heard in what felt like a long time.

It was the sound of someone sobbing.

Taking this as a sign that one of her teammates was nearby, Blake sat up and began to quickly look around her surroundings, only to see that she was still alone. Confused about where the sound came from, the cat faunus realized that _she_ was the one who was sobbing.

With her final reserved wall now broken, Blake Belladonna allowed the tears to flow. ' _This is it,'_ Blake thought, ' _I'm going to be trapped here for the rest of my life. I'll never get back to Beacon. I'll never see my friends again.'_

Blake continued to allow the dread of this situation to consume her, unaware of an odd gray sphere that hovered above her head.

" **Dry your eyes young one, it is time for action.** " A deep, distorted voice boomed inside her mind. The faunus once again shot her head up to look around, this time she _knew_ that it wasn't her. Glancing up, Blake finally saw something different, a gray sphere.

"Hello?" Blake asked with a voice that broke slightly. However, it continued to speak inside her mind as it ignored her confusion.

" **Your journey is far from over I'm afraid. Soon you will leave this place and reunite with your friends once again. When you see them again is when your new journey will begin. Along the way you will encounter wicked beings, perhaps even worse than what you have already seen. However, do not cry young one for you will not be alone. Your current and new friends will stand by your side. I promise you this, you will not be alone for this journey. Along the way, remember this, seek out the guardian. He will lead you to me. Once we meet in person I will explain everything. Now go, take the sphere and return to those you hold close to your heart.** "

Taking a huge gamble with her friends in mind, Blake took hold of the sphere. ' _Please, just send me home with my friends, that's all I want.'_ The faunus thought as a bright light suddenly invaded her vision.

* * *

Yang Xiao Long preferred the simpler things in life to keep her entertained. Drinks, dancing, and puns were what fueled her ideal, yet typical evenings out on the town. Yet what kind of evening would it be without friends to help her enjoy it? A blandish one, that's what kind. The blonde buxom brawler of Beacon always had someone close to her in case she wanted to go party, a fact that she secretly congratulated herself on. If you were a new face and had even the smallest look of knowing how to have fun, chances are that you would know Yang before the week was over.

However, if anyone looked hard enough they would see the real reason as to why the fun loving fighter always surrounded herself with new friends. Yang Xiao Long, despite her upbeat personality, didn't want to feel abandoned, not again. This problem stems from when she was at a young age. Her mother had one day decided to leave both Yang and her father for reasons unknown to the brawler. The feeling of abandonment devastated the young girl and from that point on, sought out company from wherever she could find it.

Whether or not this decision was intentional or subconscious, nobody knows.

Yet, after all the people that she has come to know and care about, all the people that she had surrounded herself with, all the people she had ever met, Yang Xiao Long was once again feeling abandoned. In what she assumed was hell, Yang had nobody to protect and nobody to protect her in return.

Yang Xiao Long, despite her best efforts, was once again alone.

To make matters even worse, this hell that she was in seemed to intensify this feeling. For Oum's sake she didn't even have the feeling of the wind and sunlight here! Collectively this was the worst that the brawler had _ever_ felt in her life. Even an entire army of grimm couldn't match this level of fear and misery. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, not even her teammates facing serious danger could match this.

Ruby, despite her childish and overly friendly demeanor, is smart enough to be able to think on her feet and is more than capable of defending herself. Although Yang knows that she doesn't need to, she still worries about her safety.

Weiss is one of those people that would surprise you if you underestimated her. With her snobby and selfish characteristics aside, Weiss knows how defuse a chaotic situation when it matters most.

Blake, her partner, doesn't need much explaining. By this point almost everyone at Beacon knew how well the mysterious girl could keep her emotions in check in nearly any situation. Aside from a few scattered moments, Blake showed very little weakness.

However, could the same things be said about herself? In Yang's own opinion, no they could not. The only things that she _really_ excelled at were; puns, partying, and beating what problems she could into submission with her fists. None of which were called for in this kind of situation. This was the reason as to why Yang was running like her life depended on it with only one objective in mind. Get out of here, wherever _here_ was. The plan was simple. Get out of here, find the rest of her team, return to Beacon, report to Ozpin, and go to bed. But as she has heard many times before, the first step is usually the hardest. Under normal circumstances, Yang would have started to use her gauntlets, Ember Celica, to blast her way out of this place once running proved fruitless.

However, as if the great Monty Oum himself hated her for some reason, Yang was without her weapons, so she was stuck to just running to find an exit. At some point Yang realized that running was meaningless, that there was no exit to be found. Taking a break from the running to catch her breath, the blonde brawler bent down enough to put her hands on her knees and take in some much needed breaths. It was here that Yang wanted to cry. Crying would help, crying would make the pain go away for a little bit right?

' _No,'_ Yang thought, ' _I'll be damned if I let myself cry now.'_ With that small resolve, Yang went with the next best thing. Taking in one last deep breath, Yang closed her eyes and screamed.

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**_

The scream that she let out was loud, primal, and most definitely blood curdling. This whole situation was already driving the blonde mad as evident by the scream, but that wasn't the only thing that showed the madness. The scream had also caused Yang's semblance to ignite. With her hair embroiled in a golden flame and eyes now open and red with fury, the blonde brawler of Beacon looked menacing to say the least. At this point, it would take a miracle for Yang to get back to a rational mind.

" _ **Calm thyself young one, your desires to see your loved ones and leave this abysmal will be made reality. But first, I must give you warning of your future."**_ A voice said, boomed through the head of Yang Xiao Long. The miracle was made, and it came in the form of a deep, odd sounding voice. Yang was certain that the language was something that she had never heard before and was REALLY certain that she shouldn't be able to understand it. However, none of that fully registered for that blonde. She was about to leave this nightmare and see Ruby and the rest of her team again, that's all that mattered. With a level head once again, Yang listened to what the voice had to say.

" _ **The world you are about to enter is wounded. Scarred by needless violence and inhabited by misguided life. Some will call you and your friends monsters. Some will turn their backs on you. And some will even try to enslave and kill you. While there are some who will seek to gain in life by any means possible, please do not show anger to them all. Some have just been misguided through false history and religious practices. They do not know the truth."**_

As the voice continued on, a gray sphere appeared in front of the brawler. A tiny amount of fear crept up her spine as this was yet another abnormal unknown that was being introduced. But instead of trying to destroy the sphere, Yang opted to see if the voice would explain it.

" _ **Take this sphere and leave this place. Seek out your guardian and stay with him. He will be the one that will lead you and your friends to me. Once we meet in person I will explain why fate brought you here. Now go young one, go and seek the truth."**_

As the voice finished, Yang did something for the first time in this rotten place. She grinned. " _Well new world, get ready to be shaken up by a Yang."_ The blonde brawler thought as she grabbed the sphere with her right hand. As soon as she made contact, a bright light invaded her vision.


	3. Cedar Woods

**Hello and welcome to another chapter of this story. For those of you who followed this story, I'm sorry that you've had to wait so long for another chapter. Extreme personal issues and a lack of motivation is what caused me to practically drop off the face of the earth. Also, some of you will notice how short this chapter is compared to my usual lengths. I've decided to shorten the lengths of the chapters in favor of getting these things out quicker. This will also help to keep some of the strain off me of trying to meet some stupid minimum word count. Hopefully this chapter will be at least up to par with some of you with how long the wait has been. And don't worry, I'm already in the process of writing the next chapter.**

 **One last thing. Most likely a lot of you will notice some errors in grammar and punctuation in this chapter. All I can say is that I'm sorry about them. I didn't feel like waiting any longer to find a beta-reader. So if you see any, again, I'm sorry.**

 **Anyways, on to the chapter!**

* * *

Ruby Rose groaned in discomfort as the birds around her continued to chirp and sing. The sun that hung overhead kept the little reaper from opening her eyes immediately, but why was that a problem? The heat from the sun offered a warm blanket of light to counter against the cool, crisp breeze. The grass that she was currently on was thick and lush, it could almost rival any bed that she had previously slept on. So again, what was the problem with staying where she was to get some more sleep?

The problem was the "dream" that she just had snapping to the forefront of her mind. Feelings of isolation and desperation once again took over as Ruby shot up into a sitting position and began to frantically look around. Her worries were quickly put to rest as Ruby identified the rest of her team on the ground just a couple of feet apart from each other. They were unconscious, but that didn't matter at the moment. What did matter though was that they were all alive and together.

Before the young reaper could get up and check on her friends, she heard a familiar, yet slightly different growl come from behind her. Ruby whipped her head around expecting to see a beowolf, but was met with something else. Two large wolves stared directly at the young girl with snarls that showed off their sharp teeth. However, while they had the body type of a traditional wolf, their color scheme was something Ruby had never seen before.

Green fur with purple undersides, orange-ish red colored tips on their tails, and a bright orange mane were the traits that stood out the most. Both beasts also had four long, red claws on each foot and piercing green eyes. Ruby would have thought of their color scheme a bit funny if they weren't looking at her like she was lunch. Survival instincts immediately kicked in for the young reaper as she frantically searched for her favorite weapon, only to notice it several feet away in a busted cage.

As Ruby tried to activate her semblance in order to get to the cage before the wolves could lunge for a strike, the rose girl noticed something was wrong. Her semblance wasn't activating! Realizing that one of the beasts had already leaped towards her, Ruby did the first thing that came to mind, she screamed.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The scream from their leader woke the remaining members of team RWBY with a jolt. Their eyes landed on the sight of an oddly colored wolf with it's maw open, targeting the young reaper. Before Yang could cry out for her sister, a perfectly timed miracle happened.

An unusually large knife came shooting out of a nearby tree line and sunk into the neck of the airborne wolf. The force of the knife knocked the beast into the thick tree next to it before fell to the ground, motionless. Before the other wolf could make an attempt to flee, another large knife came from the same direction and lodged into the skull of the wild dog.

"That's what you get for scaring off my dinner!" an unknown voice yelled from beyond the nearby tree line. As the four girls looked over to see who had saved Ruby from being eaten alive, they saw a young male faunus(?) step past the trees. The appearance of the young man caused RWBY to look at him with wide eyes.

His clothing was relatively normal as he wore an open purple vest with orange, baggy shoulders, baggy purple pants with a red waistline, and two metal bracers above his elbows. However, what caused Ruby and her team to look at him with such alarm was because of the fur. His long, golden blonde hair matched the color of his fur which covered his entire body. Horizontal stripe of purple fur decorated his body in different areas including two on each cheek and several on each arm and leg. In short, he looked like a human sized, anthropomorphic house cat, complete with clawed hands, feet and a tail.

As the faunus(?) noticed the four girls that were staring at him, he immediately covered his eyes.

"WOULD YOU PLEASE GET SOME CLOTHES ON!" He shrieked out with an almost inhuman pitch.

The huntresses-in-training looked down in mild confusion now that all immediate danger had seemingly passed to see that yes, they were unintentionally on full display. Their faces lit up with a bright shade of red as the four girls dove to a thick cluster of bushes. Each would-be huntress yelled their own individual question in team order strangely.

"Where are our clothes?"

"Where are we?"

"What's going on?"

"Who are you?"

As the jumbled mess of frantic, high pitched questions invaded the ears of the yellow furred stranger, he turned and faced away from the girls before shouting his response.

"I'm going to go and find something that you four can wear. When I get back, then I'll answer your questions. While I'm gone, use one of those knives that I threw to defend yourselves if you need to!" The strange individual then sprinted back the same way that he came from.

The woods around them went back to it's sounds of birds chirping and wind blowing through the trees. Each girl chose to remain quiet due to the brief embarrassing that just happened. During this time, team RWBY scanned their surroundings in order to hopefully see some sort of familiar landmark. The forest, the wildlife, all of it was sadly new and different to them. The only things that they could immediately recognize was each other and their weapons that were a few feet from them. As the huntresses-in-training continued to look around, Weiss noticed something strange a couple of feet away.

A small boy, no older then ten, was on the ground unconscious next to the tree. Before the ice queen could begin to worry or panic, a medium sized cloth sack landed in front of her.

"Here, this is the best that I could do on short notice. Now if you girls would be so kind to cover yourselves up, then we'll start introductions." The cat-like person said. Wordlessly the four began to dress themselves with the contents of the sack.

Ruby dressed in a simple red, short sleeved shirt, black pants, white socks and black leather shoes. Weiss found a long sleeved blue and white shirt, light blue jeans, white socks and dress shoes. Blake grabbed a short sleeved grey shirt, black jeans, grey socks and shoes. Finally Yang claimed a short sleeved yellow shirt, blue jean shorts, white socks and brown leather shoes. Now that everyone was clothed properly, Weiss finally went over to where she saw the blue mop of hair. Upon closer inspection, the heiress noticed that he too was without anything on.

"Um sir, there's someone else over here" Weiss called out. Immediately the cat-like stranger jogged over to inspect. Upon seeing the boy, the faunus(?) sighed heavily.

"Don't this just beat all," He said with a look of defeat in his eyes. "Alright princess, you go check on your friends and make sure that everyone is in working order, I'll look over little blue here." The guy said as he knelt down to examine for any damage.

Surprisingly taking no offense to the princess comment, Weiss rushed back over to where her team was and nearly tackled Ruby into a hug and catching the team leader off guard. As the two continued to embrace, Blake and Yang both decided to join in on the moment. The group hug was one of relief and happiness. Happiness because they were still alive and together and relief because their "dream" was just a dream. As the team finally let go of each other, Yang picked up her little sister into a bone crushing bear-hug.

"Oh gosh Ruby I'm so glad that you're okay!" Yang practically bellowed in her typical worried older sister tone. Cries of distress and pain were muffled against the buxom brawler's shoulder as the little reaper tried in vein to wiggle out of her sister's grasp.

While Yang tried to crush Ruby with sisterly affection, Weiss and Blake went over to the cages that held their weapons. Five block-shaped cages rested at the base of the steep mountain side. Each one was about three feet in length on each side. The steel bars on all the cages were bent and warped, and the locks on all the cages were busted off. Inside four of those five cages were the weapons of team RWBY. As Weiss reached for her prized dust rapier Myrtenaster, the heiress saw a very big problem.

"WHY IS MYRTENASTER BROKEN IN HALF!" Weiss shrieked causing Blake to recoil from the outburst. The high pitched scream caused the two sisters to separate and rush over to see what the commotion was about. As Ruby and Yang both stopped beside their respective partners, Ruby went into panic mode upon seeing the condition of everyone's weapons, especially her own.

Crescent Rose was in its compacted form with the handle and frame being dented and bent in various areas. The blade of Myrtenaster was broken in half at the middle and its dust chamber was missing entirely. Blake's Gambol Shroud was busted up into pieces except for the blade itself, which only had minor scratches and bits missing from the edge. Yang's Ember Celica looked fine on the outside, however the insides revealed that all of the shells were gone and the tracks were snapped and mixed around.

Ruby picked up her mechanical baby and cradled it like a mother would to her child. She pressed the small button on the side that normally would fold the weapon out. However the team leader was met with the awful sound of stripped gears and deep clicks, signifying that there was some really bad internal damage to her baby as well. Before Ruby let out a sad wail, an almost forgotten voice was heard from behind them.

"If you girls are finished looking gloomy for whatever reason, I would like it if we all went somewhere less dangerous." The still nameless stranger said. The girls turned to see that he was without his purple vest on, but instead was being used to cover up the blue haired boy in his arms.

"Pardon me for sounding rude after you've already helped us, but who are you and where do you plan to take us?" Weiss asked with a skeptical look. Normally she would have just been grateful for the help, but the current situation allowed her to feel justified over her skepticism.

"Well pardon me for putting the well-being of you guys over exchanging names princess, but if you must know right now, my name is Rei and we're going to be heading to my house since it's closer than McNiel village." The stranger now known as Rei said. Unlike last time, Weiss registered the "princess" comment and instinctively reacted.

"I'll have you know that I am a heiress, not a princess!" Weiss fired off with a sharp tone.

"Yeah, and I'm a dragon. Now we can either go to my house and we can talk there, or I can just leave you guys here in the middle of Cedar Woods, your choice." Rei fired back with an equally sharp tone. It was really just a bluff on his part as he knew his conscious wouldn't allow him to leave these people stranded, he just wanted to shut the annoying white haired girl up.

"I say that we follow Mr. Rei to his home." Ruby said with an almost child-like finality.

"Ruby what are you saying, we don't know who this person really is much less where we are. For all we know we could be luring us away to kill us!" Weiss practically shouted back at her team leader.

"Weiss, if he wanted us dead, he would have killed us when he found us. Not only that, he saved me from being eaten by some large wolf and even went and got us clothes. Now does that sound like a psychotic killer to you?" Ruby said with a level of maturity that was rarely seen from the red themed girl. The remaining members of team RWBY were surprised over hearing that their team leader had almost died, especially Yang, but the brawler chose to keep quiet over it in favor of the current topic.

"Yeah besides, wouldn't you like to know where we are ice queen?" Yang added.

Realizing that she _might_ made an over-exaggerated assumption, Weiss let out a small sigh of defeat. "I suppose you're right," Weiss then turned back towards Rei with a hardened look, "Alright mister, let's go to your house to talk."

"Good, my house is just up the hill behind me, let's go." Rei said as he turned and began to walk with the still unconscious boy in his arms. As the girls began to follow, Blake gained the attention of her teammates with one simple, yet oddly scary question.

"Why do I get the feeling that any answers we get will just result in even more questions?"

* * *

 **So... How was it? I personally feel like I really didn't do that great of a job on this chapter, so if you guys would like to leave a review, that would be great. Next chapter will mostly feature a lot of explaining to the girls along with the introductions of two more characters.  
**

 **And finally, if you would like to beta this story, send me a message so that we can talk about it.**


	4. McNeil

The walk up to Rei's house on the hill was surprisingly much further than team RWBY had originally thought. Although the simple looking house could easily be seen above the treeline, the actual path to it was littered with many tedious turns and small hills. The girls decided against any major talks of explication in favor of scanning their unfamiliar surroundings.

The woods itself was beautiful to say the least. The trees were thick and held beautiful red leaves that reminded them of Forever Fall. Small shrubs and bushes that decorated the area held leaves of yellow and orange, signaling that the Autumn season was in full effect. Animals that one would normally see in a wooded location roamed the area like rabbits, birds, deer, and a child sized blue blob of goo with large eyes bouncing on top of it…

Wait, what?

Ruby let out a startled yelp when her brain finally registered the strange blue thing. The yelp from their team leader caused the other team members to quickly turn to where Ruby was before looking in the same direction. This also earned a little yelp from the others, which in turn gained the attention of Rei.

"What's up?" Asked Rei, surprised that the four girls that he had been escorting were making a ruckus after being quiet for so long.

"That," Ruby yelled while pointing towards the blue blob, "What is that?"

Rei turned to where the young leader was pointing and ready to take action before relaxing. "That's just an Eye Goo. Don't worry about that one through, it and the Goblin that's further down the road won't attack you."

Ruby took Rei's words with a bit of caution as she slowly approached the jiggling dollop of blue jello. A solid minute passed of Ruby tiptoeing towards the Eye Goo before it decided to surprise the girl by speaking to her.

"What Rei said is true, I'm not going to hurt you." An almost gargled voice said, causing a high pitched "eep" to come from Ruby. The Eye Goo let out a quick series of gurgles as if it was amused with the girl's reaction. "It's reactions like yours that never get old. Anyways, my name is Blue, at least that's what everyone calls me around here."

By this point the rest of the group had gotten to where Ruby was with the girls all having looks intrigue while Rei acted as if this event was normal.

"Blue, you and Gob have to stop scaring strangers." Rei chastised the goo like a parent would to a child.

"Oh come on, there's nothing else to do around here!" Blue fired back like a defiant child. It was a strange scene, well, stranger then it was before.

The four girls stood off to the side as they watched the rather amusing site. A tall werecat-like teen holding an unconscious blue haired boy, bickering with a sentient blob of blue jello. However, the noise between the two seemed to attract something else team RWBY hadn't seen yet.

The best was to describe it would be something that came from a nightmare given a comedic twist. It's most defining trait was that it essentially a green, three foot tall disembodied head with large clawed feet that it used to hop short distances, large pointed ears, a small swirl of orange hair, and comically small claws. The girls watched with a mixture of horror and amusement as the creature made a beeline for Rei and Blue.

"That's enough you two," The thing said with a high, scratchy voice, "You're disturbing everyone else with your bickering!"

Sure enough, as both took a second to look around at the very few people who were walking through the woods, they were met with looks of irritation. Rei and Blue quickly apologized to everyone around them. However, as Rei was saying sorry multiple times to the couple, irritating them even more, the Worgen noticed that his new companions were questioning what this new monster with their eyes.

"Oh right, you guys are new here," Rei said as he briskly walked up to team RWBY, "Girls, meet Gob, everyone's favorite friendly goblin."

"This is a she?" Weiss blurted out, her face shifting into shock along with her teammates.

"I know we all look alike but you don't have to look so surprised about it." Gob said, it's large mouth turning down into a disapproving frown. The girls at least had the ability to look down in slight shame at that comment.

"Give them a break Gob, their not from around here." Rei said to defend the girls. The goblin took a few seconds to scan over each girl before letting out a small sigh.

"Alright I'll let it slide this time, but you four should learn to not judge a book by it's cover, alright?"

"Yes Ma'am!" RWBY immediately replied.

"Hmm, at least it seems you four have some manners, unlike the overgrown house cat over here." Gob said as she playfully looked to Rei.

"I take offence to that!" Rei said, this time defending himself.

"But it's the truth, you'd sooner pass wind and blame it on Teepo before apologizing."

This sent the two into a back and forth of their own, only without as much yelling. But the exchange didn't last very long as all the movement and commotion began disturbing the blue haired child that Rei had somehow forgotten he was carrying. The child began tossing his head side to side and muttering in his sleep, almost as if he was having a nightmare.

"As fun as it is watching you two argue like an old married couple, don't you think we should get him inside somewhere?" Yang said, her big sisters tendencies kicking in for some reason. In her head she knew it was odd to feel such a level of concern for a random kid, but right now she couldn't explain it.

The others looked to each other, decided it was a good idea, said their goodbyes to Gob and Blue, and continued on to Rei's house. The remainder of the walk was made in peace, with the exception of Ruby who was walking next to the feline teen, asking him the traditional icebreaker questions.

"So if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" The little reaper asked, making an effort to not sound awkward.

"I just turned sixteen a couple of months ago. My brother Teepo and I have been living here for about four years now." Rei replied, sensing what his new companion was trying to do.

"I heard the Gob lady mention him earlier, will we be meeting him when we get to your house?"

"You will, he's actually waiting on me to bring back food, needless to say he's going to be a little disappointed when I show up with no boar or deer in my hands." Rei finished with a slight chuckle, already picturing the fuss his long time friend was going to make.

"What about your parents, shouldn't they be bringing you guys food?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Actually we're orphans." The feline teen replied offhandedly, unaware that his words would send the girl next to him into a state of regret.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry." The rose reaper said quietly while looking towards the ground.

"Oh, it's alright," Rei replied, backpedaling on the comment, "Teepo and I never knew our parents, so it's kinda hard to have feelings for people you never met before."

While Rei's comment did help Ruby feel a bit better, she still felt conflicted. Thoughts of her mother and father began flooding her mind. She was grateful for all the moments that she shared with them and Yang, both good and bad. From the time that she got accepted into Signal Academy to first learning of her mother's passing, in the end she was grateful that she at least had loving parents.

Ruby tried to picture her life up to that point without having a mother or father, but she couldn't. The idea was so foreign to the young girl that even a 'what if' scenario refused to take form.

"Do you ever wonder what your parents would be like?" Ruby asked absentmindedly.

"Well of course, but if you're asking if I'm sad about it then the answer is no," Rei replied, earning a puzzled look from the rosey reaper, "Sometimes family isn't just bound by blood, I learned that from living with Teepo for so long."

That reply seemed to satisfy the girl's curiosity as she looked back towards her team. The other three team members were occupying themselves in their own ways. Blake was quietly taking in the scenery, Yang was voicing every bad pun and joke that she could think of, and Weiss was trying, and nearly failing to not voice her displeasure of said puns and jokes.

' _Does that mean that we're family?'_ The rose girl thought as she walked along quietly with bad puns and groans as background noise.

After just a few minutes of walking, the group finally came up on a small wooden house on top of a steep hill. A dirt ramp wrapped around the hill for the first part of the walkway, before secured, sturdy logs that were jammed into the ground made up the second part leading to the front door. The house, while odd in it's placement, looked simple and homely.

"Well here it is, welcome to my home." Rei said with pride filling his voice.

"It looks like an over-sized shack." Weiss said with a hint of distaste, earning an elbow jab from both Ruby and Yang.

"That's true, but trust me when I say it looks bigger on the inside," Rei replied, dismissing the heiress' insult. "Come on, I want you guys to meet Teepo." And with that the feline teen began walking up that path, encouraging the four girls to follow.

The narrow path upwards began revealing a bird's eye view of the forest below, and what a sight it was. The canopy of the Autumn gripped woodlands mixed beautiful shades of yellow and orange. The gentle, steady breeze caused the colors to move like a flame. The girls took a moment to take in the sight, quietly admiring the view before following Rei to the entrance.

"I should warn you all now, Teepo can be a little loud at times." Rei playfully warned before opening the door with his tail. The inside of Rei's house matched the simple look of the outside. A large wooden dining table with several chairs surrounding it was in the center of the room. A couple of dressers were lined up on both sides of a closed door on the left wall, an inactive stone fireplace on the right wall, and a wooden staircase that lead to the second floor was opposite of the group.

The last noticeable thing in the room was the purple haired boy sitting in one of the chairs sleeping with his head on the table, with drool streaming from the corner of his mouth and snoring loudly. The four girls each tried to be as quiet as possible while Rei took the blue haired boy to the bedroom upstairs. With the short time that he was gone, the purple headed boy's snoring grew louder, causing Weiss to fight her instinct to yell at him to wake him up. Luckily for her though, Rei had a plan.

After only walking halfway down the stairs, the feline teen crouched and lept towards his sleeping friend.

"GAAH!" The boy cried as he, Rei and the chair went tumbling towards the front door as team RWBY stepped back in shock and wondering if this was normal. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU IDIOT!?" The boy yelled as he and his friend got to their feet.

"Teepo please keep your voice down, we have guests including one who's upstairs resting". Rei replied as if he did nothing wrong.

"I should be telling you that," Teepo replied through gritted teeth, "I was have such a nice dream too."

"Which one was it, the one about stealing McNeil's money or the one about you finally kissing that girl you like?" Rei asked with his grin growing even wider.

The feline teen got the exact reaction that he wanted from his friend as Teepo blushed red like a tomato. While the purple haired boy began stuttering out every reply he could think of at the same time, it was Blake who heard the shuffling from upstairs.

"Guys, I think the little boy is awake." The faunus said, earning the attention of everyone else. It was when the room was completely quiet did everyone else heard the movement.

"Should we go check on him?" Ruby asked.

"Nah, let's allow him to get accustomed to his surroundings first, last thing he needs is a bunch of strangers suddenly crowding him after he wakes up." Rei replied, earning approving nods from everyone else.

The next few minutes went by in patient silence. The girls had decided to huddle up in their own group to talk about everything that had happened so far, Rei was looking through the food storage to see if there was any fruits to eat, and Teepo was sitting at the table secretly hoping everyone had already forgot what Rei had said about his dream.

They didn't have to wait long as the shuffling from upstairs turned into soft footsteps on the stairs. As the group turned their attention to the stairs, they saw the blue haired boy cautiously walking down with the bed sheet wrapped around his body. Once the boy realized that he wasn't alone, he immediately stopped and his eyes widened like a deer in headlights.

"Hey little man, good to see you're finally awake." Rei softly said, trying to easy the little boy's worry. The feline teen slowly walked towards the boy, showing his hands to convey that he wasn't a threat. This seemed to calm the boy as his wide eyes slowly returned to normal. This prompted the girls to try and talk to him as well.

"Hi there, I'm Ruby, what's your name?"

The boy shyly looked at the petite girl and quietly replied, "Ryu."

"Well it's nice to meet you Ryu, this is Weiss, Blake, and my sister, Yang." Ruby replied with a smile as she pointed to her friends.

"My name is Rei, and this is Teepo." The cat-like teen said as he gestured towards the only other person that hadn't been introduced. Teepo decided that since they both looked to be around the same age, it would probably be best for him to win over the frightened boy with the best way he knew how, by flashing a big, lopsided grin.

The lack of hostility and the smile from Teepo finally caused Ryu to let his guard down. Once Rei noticed the boy didn't look like he would try to bolt out the door, the teen decided their next course of action.

"Right," Rei practically shouted, startling everyone else, "Now that everyone is awake, it's time to head into town!"

"Um, although I'm excited to see a new place and new people, but why now?" Weiss asked.

"Because we have to get Ryu some new clothes, I imagine he doesn't want to walk around in a bedsheet all day. Plus we need to get everyone some new weapons, not all monsters in these woods are friendly." Rei replied as if it were obvious.

"Yay, we get to go to town!" Teepo cheered as everyone began walking out the door, showing that he was very much a little kid.

The walk to the town of McNeil was mostly uneventful, yet noisy. The main source of the noise came from Teepo who seemed to be trying to talk Ryu's head off. Topics ranged from all the cool and exciting things they would be able to do together, to exclaiming over and over how they were going to be best friends, as if was a guarantee. Meanwhile, with the other members of team RWBY were quietly taking in the scenery, Yang decided it was her turn to try and get to know Rei.

"I can imagine you've never had this big of a group hanging out with you." Yang said as she crossed her arms behind her back.

Rei chuckled as he observed the now seven people that was in the group. "You're right about that, it's been so quiet with just me and Teepo, but now I'm confident things will get more interesting."

You really do care for him like a brother, don't you?" Yang asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Of course I do, but he does the same for me as well'" Rei said as he watched his best friend drag the other girls into his hyper conversation. "I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to him."

"If you're anything like how I am with Ruby, you'd probably go into a bloodthirsty rampage." Yang replied jokingly.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Rei replied back with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Weiss was slowly growing a migraine in her head because of the purple headed boy's loud rants and plans.

"And there is this really tall waterfall on the mountain that is so fun to jump off of, also this old lady in town has a parrot that can repeat swear words, and also-"

"Would you please be quiet for five minutes?" Weiss snapped, cutting off Teepo's run-on sentences.

"Weiss don't be like that, he's just a kid." Ruby scolded.

"There is a fine line between being a kid and being annoying, and he crossed that line the moment we started walking to town." Weiss replied to her team partner, clearly not planning to back down.

"I agree with Ruby on this one," Blake spoke up in what felt like ages, "Sure it's been a little annoying, but Ruby is right on that he's just a little kid."

"Yeah, so just leave me alone you dirty crone!" Teepo shouted, earning a gasp from the heiress and a loud snicker from Rei.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!" Weiss screamed as her face shifted from a pale white to a burning red.

"Alright, let's calm down," Blake said as she tried to get between the two that were arguing, "Let's not have a fist fight in front of Owm and everybody."

"Who the hell is this Owm person?" Teepo asked with his focus on Blake.

"Teepo," Rei said as he slapped his friend in the back of the head, causing the boy to slightly yelp in pain, "What have I said about that kind of language?"

"Save them for those you hate the most." Teepo mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"How about teaching him not to swear at all, kids his age shouldn't be saying words like that." Weiss said as she turned her attention to Rei.

"Look, I didn't teach him those words, he learned them on his own. Plus, I'm not going to try and control everything he does." Rei replied, defended himself.

Let's not start fighting amongst ourselves, please?" Ruby asked, trying to defuse the tension.

"Yeah, last thing we need is to attract all the monsters in this area to us." Rei said as he began looking around. With everyone agreeing to that suggestion, the walk to town continued in peace.

As the woods began to thin out and the town came into view, team RWBY was surprised with how small and mundane it looked. A total of twelve houses were loosely scattered around, a dirt road connected each house and traveled south towards some farm fields in the distance, and only a couple of people and a dog were outside.

"This is it?" Weiss asked, expecting more than just a handful of houses.

"Yep, McNeil is the smallest farming town in this region," Rei stated as he began analyzing the houses, finally he focused one that was close, "Alright Teepo, you come with me, everybody else stay here."

As the two natives approached and entered the house, team RWBY and Ryu were left to talk amongst themselves.

"Are you guys friends with those two?" Ryu asked to break the silence.

"Not really, we were found by Rei in the same place you were." Yang replied.

"Doesn't anyone else find it strange that we were all found next to a bunch of cages in the woods?" Weiss asked, finally having the time to think about it.

"Now that I think about it, you're right. There was a cage for each of us, plus one for our weapons." Blake said with the realization dawning on her.

"Wait, does that mean-" Weiss tried to say before she was cut off by a screeching woman.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU DELINQUENTS!"

The sounds of various glass objects shattering along with frightened yelps of two individuals were heard as the door of the house that Teepo and Rei entered was forced open, with said boys scrambling out with a bunch of items in their hands. As they rushed back to the group, the woman who was in the house walked out and glared at their retreating forms.

"YOU BOYS DO THAT AGAIN AND I'LL HAVE BUNYAN KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO BOTH OF YOU!" The woman screamed before walking back inside and slamming her door shut.

The two made it safely back to the group with a set of clothes, a small leather pouch, and a small variety of fruits in their hands. As Rei and Teepo caught their breaths, the girls were a little upset at what they did.

"Did you two just steal from that woman's house?" Weiss asked with her arms crossed.

"Um, yeah?" Teepo replied slowly, as if he found it odd that she even asked.

"But you guys shouldn't be doing that, it's bad." Ruby said as she examined their stolen goods.

"Well we're not proud of it," Rei replied while handing the clothes to Ryu, "It's just really hard to make a living out here, so we do what we must to get by."

"You guys should return what you've stolen right now." Weiss demanded.

"Ok, but you guys have to take those clothes off since I stole those too." Rei fired back as he ushered Ryu off to a private spot to change.

His reply caused RWBY's faces to turn slightly red as they looked down at what they were wearing. Each girl took a second to process what the feline teen said before Blake finally spoke up.

"L-look, as long as you guys promise not to steal from innocent people, we'll let this slide." The faunus said defensively, not wanting a repeat of embarrassment from earlier that day.

"That sounds like a fair deal to me." Rei replied with a grin. As he said that, Ryu came back to the group wearing his newly acquired attire. Wearing a white cotton shirt and blue cloth pants with a few leather patches around the joints, brown leather gloves, and brown hard leather shoes, the small boy was waddling back as if he was uncomfortable in his new clothes.

"I guess you're going to take a while to get used to your new clothes?" Rei asked, earning a shy nod from the boy.

"Now that we're all decent, what's next on the agenda?" Yang asked as she took a bite from an apple.

"Next we need to go get you guys some protection," Rei said while shaking the leather pouch he grabbed and pointing to a house with a sword and shield on its door, "The guy is the only weapon-smith for miles, but his prices are reasonable."

"Do you think he would be able to help me fix Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked with hope as she pulled out her favorite weapon and began petting it affectionately.

"Uuh, I doubt it, but you could ask." Rei replied, a bit disturbed with how motherly the rose girl was treating the object.

"That's good enough for me, lets go!" Ruby cheered as she ran for the shop.

While the others began to follow the rose girl at a normal speed, Rei leaned towards Yang.

"Is she always like this?" The Worgen asked, trying to be discreet.

"Oh buddy," Yang said, chuckling at the question, "You should have seen her when she first made the thing. This is tame compared to how she was back then."

This comment caused Rei and Teepo, who had been listening too, to stop in their tracks in bewilderment while the other girls and Ryu continued on. The two brothers/best friends gave each other a look of confusion with a hint of worry. Deciding on not thinking about it too much, the two just shrugged before joining everyone else.

The inside of the shop looked more like an average home, with the only difference being the wooden counter that bisected the living room. The usual home furnishings were mostly behind the counter, a circular wooden table and three wooden chairs sat next to the back window, paintings of what looked to be various people and animals decorated the walls, and a staircase leading to the second floor was everything that could be seen.

"Liam, you home?" Rei shouted towards the stairs.

"Yes, now quit shouting ya moron." An old man replied as he popped up from behind the counter.

"Whoops," Rei sheepishly replied, "I didn't see you there, how it going?"

"Well it was going great, until an idiot marched into my shop and began yelling." The man known as Liam replied as he have the feline teen a death stare.

"I said I was sorry, geez. Listen, I was wanting to know if you could possibly fix a few weapons." Rei said as he gestured for the girls to show their broken weapons.

"Although I shouldn't due to your recent actions, I still need the zenny so let me see them." Liam reluctantly replied as he took the broken weapons.

The girls waited patiently as the old shopkeeper took his time in examining each weapon. Parts from each one were taken off, put back on, flipped around, spun around, and weighed. Each action caused the girls to resist the urge to take their weapons back, especially Ruby who was wanting to jump the counter and slap the old man. Finally after several minutes of the shopkeeper getting to look at both the ins and outs of the weapons, he put everything back the way it was and returned them all.

"Sorry, there's nothing I can do." Liam said as he cleaned off his hands with a rag.

"If you can't do it, do you know of anyone who could?" Weiss asked as she put her rapier away.

"Your best bet would be the master-smiths in Windia," The old shopkeeper replied as he used the same rag he cleaned his hands with to wipe his face, "Besides, I don't even know what half those parts were."

"Well don't that just beat all, I guess we'll take five of your best swords and whatever you have for armor." Rei said while pulling out the leather pouch from earlier.

Liam suspiciously eyed the pouch as he pulled out five short swords and armguards from behind the counter and placed them on top. "That zenny isn't yours, is it?" He asked.

"I will not incriminate myself, you know that." Rei replied with a grin as he paid for the items and walked out with Teepo. Just as RWBY and Ryu were about to walk out as well, Liam got their attention.

"You five aren't from around here, are you?" He asked.

"No sir we're not, we were just traveling to random places when we ran into them two." Blake quickly lied.

"Well just be careful around those boys or they'll get you into some serious trouble." The shopkeeper warned as he turned to go upstairs.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Ruby asked as she turned to her teammates.

"Stop being such a dolt, those two are stealing from others instead of working for a living." Weiss replied, shocked that her partner would ask a question with an obvious answer.

"Well maybe there is more to their story. I mean, Rei was talking to me earlier about how hard their lives have been." Ruby fired back.

"You should know that life is not always going to be easy Ruby." Weiss almost groaned with how her partner was trying to defend them.

"Says the girl who's literally worth millions back on Remnant." Yang said with sass as they all walked out to join Rei and Teepo. Right outside the shop were said boys who were currently sorting the swords and armguards into five groups, one sword and armguard per person who needed them.

"Alright, I know there not as fancy as what you had, but they'll do in a pinch." Rei said as he began offering the protectives. When everyone finally had their armguards and swords placed where they felt comfortable, Teepo was the first to comment on it.

"You guys look so out of place it's not even funny." The purple haired boy said with a somewhat confused looked, mainly directing the comment towards the four girls.

"We normally don't use simple swords, Yang and I have never used swords before at all." Ruby replied honestly.

"Exactly, I like to use my fists more than anything else." Yang chimed in as she swung her new weapon to get a feel for it.

"Liam did say that you guys might be able to get your original weapons fixed at Windia, but before we make any plans to go there, we have to make a stop at our friend Bunyan's place to pick up some food." Rei said as he pointed back towards the woods.

"Does this "friend" of yours know that you're coming?" Weiss asked with an eyebrow raised and her arms crossed.

"Not really, but he knows I'll be good for it," Rei replied quickly, "Now enough waiting around guys, there's only so much sunlight in the day."

"I've got a funny feeling about this." Ruby commented, earning nods of agreement from Ryu and her teammates as they followed Rei and Teepo back into Cedar Woods.

Along the way to Bunyan's house that sat at the far edge of the woods, Teepo began showing Ryu the basics of using a sword, which mainly consisted of maintaining focus on the target and steady slashes. Blake and Weiss also offered their own pieces of advice since they were the only others that used sword-like weapons. Ruby and Yang also listened in on occasion but thanks to their starting lessons from their father and uncle, the sisters knew enough to not worry about it.

However, Rei was the only one not invested in the impromptu lesson, instead choosing to remain quiet and focus on their surroundings. This attracted the attention of Weiss, who was now a little more cautious of the brothers/best friends.

"What's got you so worried that you feel the need to keep lookout?" The heiress asked as she eyed the feline teen suspiciously.

"I'm just looking out any monsters in this area, they tend to get a little meaner the further in the woods you go." Rei replied quickly, almost as if he knew she was going to ask.

"If that's the case then why does this Bunyan guy live so far into the woods?" Blake asked as she walked up beside Rei.

"I think I remember him saying something about keeping an eye on something, but I'm not sure." Rei replied.

Blake was about to ask another question, but was stopped by a scream of pain from Ryu and Teepo. Turning towards the back where the two boys were, Rei and the girls saw them get tackled from behind by a couple of goblins, with a bigger pink goblin barking orders.

"Attack, teach them not to trespass on my turf!" The scratchy voice of the pink goblin shouted, getting a simultaneous "Yes sir" from the other two.

Without anything being said, Rei and team RWBY quickly sprung into action. Ruby and Weiss split off to take care of one, Blake and Yang went after the other, and Rei rushed to check on the boys before going after the pink one. Noticing that they were charging to fight back, the two normal goblins immediately rushed towards their opponents while the boss stayed behind.

The girls didn't know what to expect from the funny looking creatures,but it wasn't how hard their heads were. Each goblin leaped head first at their perspective duo, with Weiss and Yang quickly finding themselves on their backs. However the goblins seemed to not be very smart because as soon as they successfully landed, they stopped to celebrate their small victory. This proved to be their biggest mistake as they were left open for Ruby and Blake to strike back. The rose girl and the Faunus wasted no time unlike the goblins, Ruby brought her sword down in a strong slash onto its head, easily cutting flesh and cracking the skull. Blake however decided to take advantage of the laughing goblin, swiftly jabbing her blade into its open mouth. Looks of shock replaced their once jovial faces as they stood still while Ruby and Blake helped their partners to their feet.

The girls quickly got back into battle stances, ready to continue the fight, but saw that it wasn't needed as the two goblins fell backwards at the same time.

"Get back here you little pink bastard!" Rei shouted, earning the attention of the girls. The girls looked up from their fallen enemies to see the feline teen start chasing the boss goblin, only for him to stop once the creature disappeared into some thick bushes. Deciding to leave Rei alone, RWBY rushed to check on the boys that were blindsided.

"Are you guys alright?" Ruby asked worriedly as she helped Ryu to his feet.

"Those little demons hit too hard." Teepo complained as he was helped up by Blake.

"What was that pink goblin talking about its turf for?" Weiss directed at Rei as the feline teen walked back with a disappointed look.

"The annoying ankle biters are notorious for being extremely territorial. Once they have it in their heads that a place belongs to them, they'll do whatever it takes to defend it."

"If that's the case then why did that pink one run away?" Blake asked.

"Because their bigger cowards once they realise their outnumbered and don't have the advantage," Rei replied with a cautious looked as he eyed where the two goblin bodies were, "We need to get moving, Rippers have already picked up the bodies and I don't feel like having my eyes poked out."

As if on cue, the group was startled as a high pitched caw was heard from above. Looking up, team RUBY was surprised to see two birds about the same size as Ruby staring them down. Each one took turns cawing louder and louder, like they were trying to scare the group into running away.

"Guys, we need to get away from here slowly. If they decide to divebomb, make sure to cover your faces if you can't move out of the way." Rei whispered as he slowly began to walk away from the carnivorous birds while keeping eye contact.

Taking the advice to heart, the others followed Rei's example. The slow, careful steps away from the birds took several minutes before the Rippers finally flew away, likely looking for their next source of food. It was then when Rei and Teepo finally let out sighs of relief.

"I hate those stupid rats with wings." Teepo exclaimed as he stretched away his soreness.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Rei stated before turning to Ryu, "How are you feeling little guy?"

"My head still hurts." Ryu replied while rubbing the lump on the back of his head.

"Yeah, but at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been," Rei assured, "Now let's continue on, Bunyan's house is only a couple of minutes away."

Deciding that they had spent way to long in this headache of an area, the girls were eager to get away. So eager, that they completely forgot about Rei's suspicious behavior over knowing this Bunyan guy.

* * *

 **If I can be honest here, this chapter was due to come out last week, but I got a little lazy. Good news is that the next chapter is well on it's way. One thing I want to note is that in the previous chapter, I kinda forgot to mention the girls picking up their weapons from Remnant. Now I know it should go without saying, but should I go back and edit that or is it alright as it is? The only reason I'm asking is that obviously It's mentioned that they have them in this chapter.**

 **Anyways, I'm in a pretty good spot in life now, so chapters should continue at a somewhat steady pace. Just a reminder, comments are always welcome forms of constructive feedback. Believe it or not, but I do actually take critiques seriously. That's all, have a good one everybody!**


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